US President Donald Trump says Brexit is ‘tearing a country apart’

Mr Trump waded into the Brexit debate to attack Theresa May’s handling of the UK’s departure from the EU as he met with Irish premier Leo Varadkar at the White House today

‘I gave the Prime Minister my ideas of how to negotiate it, she didn’t listen’: Trump taunts Theresa May over Brexit just hours before crucial Commons vote – and says he’s ‘surprised to see how badly it’s all gone’

US President Donald Trump has delivered his verdict on the way Brexit is going.

He opposed a second Brexit referendum – saying it would “unfair”.

He said Brexit was a “complex” issue, but said he was “surprised” by how bad Brexit negotiations have gone.

“I’m surprised at how badly it has all gone from a standpoint of negotiations but I gave the Prime Minister (Theresa May) my ideas of how to negotiate it, she didn’t listen to that and that’s fine but it could have been negotiated in a different manner.

He said: “It’s a very complex thing right now, it’s tearing a country apart, it’s actually tearing a lot of countries apart and it’s a shame it has to be that way but I think we will stay right in our lane.”

“The EU has been very tough to deal with and frankly it’s been very one-sided for many years so we are changing that around.”

Asked if he thinks the Brexit deadline should be extended, Mr Trump said: “I think they are probably going to have to do something because right now they are in the midst of a very short period of time, at the end of the month and they are not going to be able to do that.

“We can do a very big trade deal with the UK. we are also re-negotiating our trade deal with the European groups and literally individual nations.”